LOGAN, Utah - Utah State freshman Kaylie Chambers buried a penalty kick in the 88th minute to secure a 2-1 victory for the Aggies over Illinois State on Thursday night at Chuck & Gloria Bell Field.
"You can never overlook any opponents," head coach Manny Martins said. "No one wants to be 0-3, no one wants to be 0-4. They've gotta fight and I knew they were going to fight… We got a win. Sometimes you have to scrap. You have to dig in and be a little bit resilient. But we got the result and we'll get better."
Sophomore defender Addy Symonds opened the scoring in the 30th minute, nestling a corner kick from junior Whitney Lopez at the far corner. USU seemingly stretched their advantage to two when sophomore Sid Barlow found the back of the net before Utah State was deemed offsides on the play. Shortly thereafter, Illinois State's Leah Crotty tied the game at 1-1 three minutes before halftime.
"When you get scored on," Chambers said, "it can be really hard and that can bring team morale down. But with us, I just think it motivates us more to play harder and to get a goal."
Before the first 45 minutes expired, sophomore Heidi Smith again seemed to restore USU's lead before the breakaway attack was ruled offsides by the officials.
In the second half, USU routinely threatened the Redbirds' goal, most notably a cross which found the foot of London Miller before glancing off the crossbar and over the net. With the game nearing a draw, Chambers drew a penalty after being shoved off a cross near the six-yard box. On the ensuing penalty, the freshman buried the shot into the top right corner. It was the first penalty USU has attempted or converted since former Aggie Ashley Cardozo scored via penalty versus Wyoming on April 11, 2021.
"My biggest thing is just to take a deep breath," Chambers said. "Normally, when I take PKs, I get really worked up and I get into my head. But I trusted my ability and just really focused on where I wanted the ball to go. And it went where I wanted it to."
The Aggie defense then preserved the victory over the final three minutes to move Utah State to 2-0-1 on the season.
The goals from both Chambers and Symonds were their first on the season. USU now has had seven individual goal scorers this season in addition to 12 total point scorers across the team's first three contests.
"That's part of our identity," Martins said. "That's what we do, that's how we play. Our players, it's all gas and no brakes. That's how we play. The great thing is we have a lot of quality on our team so when we make our changes, it's not like we're going third in the depth chart. It's just another starter coming on."
The Aggies return to action as they host Grand Canyon on Sunday, August 28, at 1 p.m. (MT).
Fans can follow the Aggie soccer program on Twitter, @USUSoccer, on Facebook at /USUSoccer and on Instagram, @USUSoccer. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
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